Brick mould trim

ABSTRACT

A starter bracket is attached to a wall and a mould trim piece is inserted therein such that a pair of opposed legs of the bracket engage respective longitudinal edges of the trim piece. A back plate of the bracket extends vertically and on one side has a longer L-shaped formation extending forward and laterally, and at the other side, a shorter leg extending forward and laterally. The inner edge of the shorter leg is preferably in the form of a compressible edge. The back plate is nailed to a wall, the longer leg of the bracket is inserted in one slot on one side of the trim piece, and a short slot on the other side of the trim piece is snapped onto the shorter leg to complete the installation.

BACKGROUND

The present invention relates to building construction and in particularto the framing of doors, windows, and other wall penetration.

SUMMARY

An object of the invention is to attach a brick mould or the like to awall between two boundaries of other building structures, withoutpenetrating the brick mould or otherwise marring the visible surfaceafter installation.

In one aspect of the disclosure, a starter bracket is attached to thewall and the trim piece is inserted therein such that a pair of opposedlegs on the bracket engage respective longitudinal edges of the trimpiece. A back plate of the bracket extends vertically and on one sidehas a longer L-shaped formation with legs extending forward andlaterally, and at the other side, a shorter formation extending withlegs forward and laterally. The inner edge of the inner leg of theshorter formation is preferably in the form of a compressible edge. Theback plate is nailed to a wall, the longer leg of the bracket isinserted in one slot on one side of the trim piece, and a short slot onthe other side of the trim piece is snapped onto the shorter leg tocomplete the installation.

From another aspect, the disclosure is directed to a method forinstalling a wall trim piece having a front face, a back face andopposite edges, comprising the steps of affixing a back portion of abracket to a wall; manually inserting a front portion of the bracketinto one edge of the trim piece whereby the trim piece is retained onthe wall by the bracket; affixing the other edge of the trim piece tothe wall with a mounting strip; and inserting an edge of at least onewall siding panel into a channel on the second edge, in front of themounting strip.

Another method is directed to installing a longitudinally extending trimpiece having a front face, a back face and opposite sides onto a wall,such as brick moulding or casing, comprising affixing a longitudinallyextending back portion of a bracket to a wall; inserting a first frontportion of the bracket into a first side of the trim piece; and thenpushing the trim piece toward the bracket so a portion of the back faceof the trim piece slides over while bending a second front portion ofthe bracket until the second front portion enters a second longitudinalslot on the trim piece. Preferably, a first front leg of the bracket isinserted into the first side of the trim piece and then the first frontleg bends as a pivot while the trim piece is pushed toward the bracketuntil another front leg on the bracket snaps into a second longitudinalslot on the trim piece.

A significant advantage is that all steps in the installation can beperformed without requiring lateral access to the bracket or trim piece,which access would typically be blocked by one or both of a window frameor exterior wall cover such as masonry, yet avoiding use of nails orscrews through the front of the trim piece.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING

FIG. 1 is a top view of a bracket for a brick mould;

FIG. 2 is a front view of the bracket of FIG. 16;

FIG. 3 is a top view of a #908 brick mould;

FIG. 4 shows how the brick mould of FIG. 18 is mounted to the bracket ofFIGS. 1-3 after the bracket has been affixed to a wall;

FIG. 5 shows the corner of the exterior of a building where a brickmould has been installed between a window frame and surrounding masonry;and

FIG. 6 shows a variation of the brick mould, wherein a portion of themounting bracket extends beyond a side edge of the moulding.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

FIGS. 1-6 show a trim technique, by which a longitudinally extendingtrim piece such as brick mould or the like (sometimes called “casing”)can be attached to a wall W without penetrating the brick mould orotherwise marring the visible surface during installation. Brick mouldsare a type of trim which in one instance is provided between the edge ofmasonry and a window box, especially if the size of the original windowis reduced and the margin adjacent to the masonry must be closed off.Even for non-masonry exteriors, most new entry doors for modernconstruction come stocked with a #908 brick mould as the exterior trim,unless other mould is specified. The present invention provides a hiddenfastening system for brick mould applications.

A brick mould starter bracket 10 is shown in FIG. 1. A longitudinal backplate 12 extends vertically and at one side has an L-shaped formationwith one leg extending perpendicularly forward and another leg 16extending laterally inwardly, and at the other side it has a leg 18extending perpendicularly forward and a leg 20 extending laterallyinwardly. The forward legs 14 and 18 are parallel but offset.Preferably, forward leg 14 is longer than forward leg 18 and lateral leg16 is longer than lateral or front leg 20. The inner edge 22 of leg 20is in the form of a compressible, preferably J-edge. A plurality of nailholes 24 are provided in the back plate 12. Preferably, the nail holes24 are readily accessible through the open space between the edge 26 ofthe leg 16 and the J-edge 22.

For a #908 brick mould, the width of the back plate 12 would be twoinches, the leg 14 would extend forward ½ inch, the front leg 16 wouldextend ½ inch, the other leg 18 would extend forward ¼ inch, and theother front leg 20 would extend about ¼ inch. A #908 brick mould isshown as item 28 in FIG. 3, with a back face 30, left and right sides32, 34, and front face 36 which is beveled, fluted, or otherwise wouldtypically carry some decorative profile. This brick mould isconventional except that for present purposes it is kerfed on the leftand right sides 32, 34, as shown by slots at 38 and 40. These slots areat locations which correspond to the positions of the front legs 16 and20 of the bracket 10. Preferably the back corner adjacent slot 40 isrounded 42.

After the bracket 10 has been attached to the wall with nails 44 throughholes 24, the longer slot 38 is urged onto the longer front leg 16, tothe position shown in FIG. 4, the installer pushes on the opposite sideof the brick mould to pivot about front leg 14 such that the roundededge 42 bends the front leg 20 and ultimately snaps into the other slot40, thereby securing the mould against the bracket 10.

Preferably, the brick mould unit is manufactured with the bracket 10 andbrick mould 28 attached via the front legs 16, 20 engaging the slots 38,40. These units can be provided in standard lengths, such as six, eightor ten feet.

FIG. 5 shows one of many possible installation configurations for abrick mould 46 surrounding a window frame 48 and filling the spacebetween the window frame 48 and the masonry wall 50. Only portions oftop 46A and one vertical 46B unit are shown.

Upon measuring the dimensions of the areas to be filled by the brickmould around the window frame 48 or against the wall 50, the installerat the site cuts the units to the desired length. For example, as shownin FIG. 5, the installer can cut pieces to length and at 45° anglesindicated at 52 to assemble as a square in the field.

Once the standard length units have been cut to the desired size, thebrick mould trim piece is slid out of the bracket lengthwise and thebracket attached to the building. The mould piece is snapped therein asdescribed previously with respect to FIGS. 1-4. The compressive edge 22provides only a mild bias against the slot 40 and the round surfacepreferably permits pivotal disengagement as well as engagement per FIG.4. In the installed condition shown in FIG. 5, the left 54 and right 56longitudinal sides of the moulding appear to be flat, because theforward legs are substantially flush with the sides after fullinstallation as described with respect to FIGS. 1-4.

In an alternative embodiment 58 shown in FIG. 6, the front leg 60 thatcarries the J-edge, is visible as a so-called “reveal” between the rightside 62 of the mould and the, e.g., masonry or other interface. The leftside 64 is as previously described, i.e., as 54 in FIG. 5. Withreference to FIG. 1, this embodiment can be implemented by simplyincreasing the width of the back plate 12 by, e.g., ⅛ inch to ¼ inch,and likewise increasing the length of the front leg 20 by the samedistance. In addition to an aesthetic appeal with this embodiment, theslightly longer front leg 60 bends more easily for the mould to besnapped in.

It should be understood that the bracket can be made of metal, such asaluminum, or durable and resilient plastic and the moulding made of hardplastic, such as PVC. Preferably, the bracket and the mould are the samecolor, especially in the embodiment of FIG. 6, having the reveal 60which is part of the bracket.

With reference to FIGS. 1-6, the trim piece 28, 46 is secured in thebracket 10 by the first front leg 16 extending parallel to the backplate 12 engaged in the first front slot 38 and the second front leg 20extending parallel to the back plate engaged in the second front slot40, with the back face 30 of the trim piece substantially against theback plate 12 of the bracket. The first front leg is connected to theback plate by a first forward leg 14 and the second front leg isconnected to the back plate by a second forward leg 18. In oneembodiment, the forward legs are substantially flush with the sides 32,34 of the trim piece and, in another embodiment, a portion 60 of thesecond front leg extends laterally from and is therefore visible withthe respective side edge 62 of the trim piece.

It should further be appreciated that the lengths and distances of theforward legs 14, 18 from the back plate 12 should permit the pivoting ofthe first front leg 14 whereby the pushing on the trim piece close tothe other side will bend the second front leg 20 sufficiently to permitentry of that other front leg 20 into the second slot 40 on the trimpiece.

1. A trim unit comprising: a bracket having a longitudinal back plateattachable to a wall and first and second longitudinal sides, each sidehaving angulated legs including respective first and second front legsextending toward each other, parallel to the back plate; and alongitudinally extending trim piece having a front face, a back face,and first and second longitudinal sides, with said sides havingrespective first and second longitudinal slots located for receivingrespective front legs of the bracket.
 2. The trim unit of claim 1,wherein the first front leg is farther from the back plate than thesecond front leg; the first front leg is longer than the second frontleg; and the second front leg has a compressible edge.
 3. The trim unitof claim 1, wherein the first front leg is slidable longitudinally in afirst of said slots; the second front leg is slidable longitudinally ina second of said slots; and the second front leg has a “J” edge that iscompressed in said second slot.
 4. The trim unit of claim 1, wherein thetrim piece is secured in the bracket by the first front leg engaged inthe first slot and the second front leg engaged in the second slot; theback face of the trim piece is against the back plate of the bracket;and the first front leg is connected to the back plate by a firstforward leg and the second front leg is connected to the back plate by asecond forward leg, wherein the forward legs extend perpendicularly tothe back plate.
 5. The trim unit of claim 4, wherein the front legs areslidable longitudinally in the respective slots.
 6. The trim unit ofclaim 1, wherein the legs and slots are operatively associated such thatwhen the first forward leg is in said first slot and before the secondforward leg is in said second slot, the second side of the trim piece ispushable toward the back plate such that, a portion of the back face ofthe trim piece slides over while bending the second front leg until thesecond front leg enters the second slot.
 7. The trim unit of claim 6,wherein the legs and slots are operatively associated such that when theforward legs are in the respective slots, the second side of the trimpiece is pullable away from the back plate such that the second forwardleg is removed from the second slot.
 8. The trim unit of claim 7,wherein the portion of the back face that slides over the second frontleg is a rounded corner between the back face and the second side of thetrim piece.
 9. The trim unit of claim 2, wherein the first front leg isslidable longitudinally in a first of said slots; the second front legis slidable longitudinally in a second of said slots; and the secondfront leg has a “J” edge that is compressed in said second slot.
 10. Thetrim unit of claim 4, wherein the back plate is attached to a wallbetween two longitudinally extending boundaries of other buildingstructure.
 11. The trim unit of claim 10, wherein the trim unit is abrick mould unit extending longitudinally between a window frame andmasonry.
 12. A method for installing a longitudinally extending trimpiece having a front face, a back face and opposite sides onto a wallcomprising: affixing a longitudinally extending back portion of abracket to a wall; manually inserting a longitudinally extending firstfront portion of the bracket into a first side of the trim piece; andsecuring the trim piece for the bracket by pushing the trim piece towardthe bracket so a portion of the back face of the trim piece slides overwhile bending a second front portion of the bracket until the secondfront portion enters a slot on the trim piece.
 13. The method of claim12, wherein the trim piece is pushed toward the bracket by pivoting thetrim piece around the first front portion of the bracket.
 14. The methodof claim 13, wherein a first front leg of the bracket is inserted intothe first side of the trim piece and then the first front leg pivots asthe trim piece is pushed toward the bracket.
 15. The method claim 14,including the steps before affixing the bracket to a wall, of: selectinga trim unit in which the trim piece is secured to the bracket; andremoving the trim piece from the bracket.